Foreword

by Willie A. Deese, President, Merck Manufacturing Division

I was extremely pleased when Fred and Judith asked me to write the foreword to Opening Doors to Teamwork and Collaboration: 4 Keys That Change Everything. For more than three decades, we exchanged ideas and worked together to improve organizational environments from the computer industry to the pharmaceutical industry. What I learned through our collaboration has expanded my view and understanding of transformational cultural change in ways that I could not have imagined 30 years ago.

My mental model of a high-performing organization began 35 years ago while working for the Digital Equipment Corporation in Massachusetts. It was a workplace where everyone had the opportunity to do their best. I share this from the perspective of a country boy from North Carolina born in the ’50s and raised at a time when not everyone was afforded equal opportunities.

Since then, I’ve had the privilege to lead national, international, and global organizations that ranged in size from 500 to 30,000 employees, with some spanning more than 30 countries. Through these experiences, I’ve come to some conclusions that are fundamental to the way I motivate people and lead organizations.

It’s clear to me that people genuinely want to meaningfully contribute and achieve their highest possible potential. They want to work in a place where they are listened to, heard, valued, and respected. And, most of all, they appreciate and enjoy hearing the words “thank you” for a job well done. By realizing this, we are all given the opportunity to improve performance outcomes in organizations everywhere, regardless of our industry, cultural norms, regional practices, language, country, city, neighborhood, or “street corner.”

So why isn’t more being done to inspire high-performing organizations today? Because it’s not easy; in fact, it’s darn difficult! It requires leaders to change behaviors and build capabilities to lead and manage in a different way. But the benefits are worth making the changes, changes which this book will clearly explain.

I’ve worked in companies that placed high value on technical knowledge and skills. These attributes are typically required of high-performing individuals, but are they enough? Do they alone create an environment that allows everyone in the organization to truly do their best work and achieve their full potential? Do these attributes alone help sustain high performance and enable organizational success? I don’t think so. I believe teamwork, collaboration, and trust are the missing pieces needed to complete the high-performing organization puzzle.

I invite you to unlock the high-performing potential of your organization through the 4 Keys That Change Everything. They can help leaders, like you, deliver transformational organizational change.

Lean into discomfort. Be willing to have difficult, straight-talk discussions about performance and expectations up, down, and across the organization. It gets easier with each discussion. In my experience, when these conversations take place with care and concern, people know you want them to succeed.

Listen as an ally. Demonstrate respect for your team members and allow for the exchange of thoughts and ideas that lead to better outcomes.

State your intent and intensity. Leave little room for misunderstanding, but allow others to discern appropriately whether your decisions and expectations can be influenced. In other words, stakes are firmly positioned but movable. Boulders are heavy but can be moved with effort. Tombstones aren’t movable.

Share your street corner. Be open and willing to listen to others’ views from their “street corners” to broaden your understanding across the organization.

Applying these 4 Keys—Lean into Discomfort, Listen as an Ally, State Your Intent and Intensity, and Share Your Street Corner—will unlock the high-performing potential of your organization. In my experience, when the 4 Keys are embraced by people committed to leading in this way, they root teamwork, increase collaboration, and enhance organizational trust, which in turn deliver faster, stronger, and more sustainable business results.

By exploring and embodying the 4 Keys, you can achieve the results I’ve seen throughout my career in organization after organization. It may be difficult at first, but as Andrew Carnegie said, “Anything in life worth having is worth working for.”

Leading and managing in this way will inspire your team to do their best, and that changes everything!

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